This invention relates to fiber optic cables and, more particularly, to a device for supporting optical fiber splices and managing excess lengths of fiber connected thereto.
It is conventional for a vendor of optical equipment, such as lasers and optical receivers, to provide an optical cable stub from the equipment enclosure. This stub provides optical access to the equipment without requiring the end user to open the enclosure. Typically, such stub is a three foot length of optical quality fiber. This fiber stub must be spliced to some other fiber to provide an optical communication path to other equipment. Typically, only about six inches out of the three feet of optical fiber is actually needed to make the connection. However, it is undesirable to trim the excess from the stub in the event that a mistake is made and/or the splice must be redone.
Optical fibers are delicate and must be handled properly. One requirement when handling such fibers is that any change of direction of the fiber cannot be any sharper than a minimum bend radius specified by the manufacturer. A typical specified minimum bend radius is on the order of one inch.
Splicing of optical fibers is typically accomplished by providing a splice cylinder approximately two inches long and having a diameter about three times the diameter of the optical fiber. This cylinder has an axial bore sized to allow a pair of optical fibers, one from either end, to be snugly inserted therein. The ends of these fibers have previously been appropriately machined and then an optical welding operation is effected. The region where the fiber leaves the splice cylinder is particularly susceptible to bending at a radius less than the specified minimum bend radius. Therefore, the splice cylinder, along with the fiber closely adjacent thereto, needs to be properly supported.
It is therefore a primary object of this invention to provide a device which supports an optical fiber splice and allows for the routing of the optical fiber while maintaining the specified minimum bend radius.
It is another object of this invention to provide such a device wherein the routing pattern may be varied so as to accommodate various lengths of fiber.